Edwin r



(Nb Model.)

B. R. SHEPARD.

METALLIC OLAMP.

Patented 0011.29, 1889;

UNITED STATES PATENT UFFICE.

EDWIN R. SHEPARD, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

M ETALLIC CLAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 413,793, dated October 29, 1889. Application filed January 25, 1887. Renewed March 21, 1889. Serial No. 304,233. (No model.)

ence being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improved clamp designed particularly for use in uniting railroad-rails to metallic ties or sleepers, but also adapted for use in uniting metallic parts in other structures, such as plates or beams in bridges, buildings, andin like places.

Assuch clamps are most commonly used in places where the parts which they unite are subject to shocks and vibrations, it has been my object in devising this clamp to so construct it as to combine great strength and elasticity, whereby, after once being forced in place, it will so bind together the parts which it unites as to overcome the motion between such parts and the clamp, and thus prevent the wear incident to such motion, which has rendered all previousclamps of a similar nature more or less defective.

I am aware that clamps of various sorts havebeen used for purposes analogous to that for which mine is intended. Such older devices have been held in place by wed'gingblocks, or keys, screws, and nuts, by locking projections adapted to pass through key-holeshaped apertures, after which the clamp could be turned one-quarter of a revolution and be thereby locked, and other means have been used for holding said clamps in place; but I believe that I am the first to have invented an elastic clamp, which, when forced or sprung into place, will hold'the parts which it unites together with great power, and at the same time prevent looseness and wear.

My invention having these obj ects in View relates to certain constructions of parts for carrying them out.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a cross-section of a railroad rail and tie united by my clamp. Fig. 2 is a perspective View of the clamp. Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view similar to Fig. 1, illustrating an additional feature of my invention. Fig. 4 illustrates the position occupied by the clamp when being forced into place.

In the drawings, A represents a railroad rail having the flange portions a a, the web a, and the tread a This rail is seated upon a metallic tie B, from which rise lugs 11, against which the flanges a bear, and which is perforated at b to receive the clamp which unites the rail to the tie.

The clamp, which is represented, generally, by C, consists of a longer upper jaw c, a shorter lower jaw c, a connecting shank portion 0 and a plate or flange 0 extending rearward from the shank portion 0 the latter being recessed or rabbeted around its edge to form a locking projection 0 The bounding lines of all exposed parts of the clamp are curved or rounded, as thereby the danger of fracture is much reduced over a construction in which the parts are angular.

When the clamp is in place uniting the rail and tie, the position of its parts is as follows:- The upper jaw c engages with the upper face of the base-flange CL of the rail, the shank portion 0 passes through the aperture 1) in the tie and may or may not engage with 19 and locks the clamp in place.

When the parts are to be united, the clamp is first placed as shown in Fig. 4. hen in this position, the under hook or jaw c, which is quite short, but of great strength, hooks under the tie, but at the same time bears against the inner edge of aperture 12 and forms the fulcrum around or against which the clamp moves in being forced into place. As by a further movement the upper jaw c is forced up the incline of the base-flange a, the jaws c and 0' will be sprung apart and the flange portion 0 forced with great power down upon the tie, the pressure exerted bya clamp IOO home by a simple forward movement in one direction, and not brought into working position by a quarter-turn, as has been done, which latter movement would be well-nigh impossible with an elastic clamp exerting such a pressure as does mine. The length of the upper jaw c and the flange portion 0 may be increased, as thereby additional elasticity is gained and the leverage or holding power or steadiness of the clamp rendered greater. It will be seen that the shank portion 0 between the jaws is so chambered out, as at c, that the outer edge of the base-flange of the rail does not come in contact therewith. This insures that should there be any side-thrust by or of the rail it will be received and borne by-the lugs b, and not by the clamps, which otherwise might be thereby strain ed, injured, or even broken.

The form of clamp which I have found to operate most satisfactorily is that shown in the drawings, wherein the under side of the upper jaw c is cut away in such manner as to leave near the end of the jaw a bearingface 0. This insures that the point of the hook shall at all times bear firmly upon the upper face of the flange of the rail, whereas otherwise it mightbe thrown up therefrom by the inner portion of the jaw bearing upon the rail at or near the outer edge of the flange a. I do not, however, wish to be limitedto this precise construction, although I consider it the most desirable.

\Vhen the clamp is in working position, as seen in Fig. 1, the locking projection 0 being seated in aperture 1), it is practically impossible for the clamp to become accidentally disengaged, and by reason of the elasticity of the clamp no looseness, and hence destructive wear, will be occasioned by the vibrations of the rail caused by the passage of rolling-stock or from other circumstances; but as an additional precaution against looseness, which may be found advantageous under some conditions, I propose to interpose between the clamp and the parts which it unites a lining,

which is represented by D. This is of the general form of the opening between the jaws of the clamp, except that its jaws are normally separated somewhat more widely than are the jaws c 0', so that the lining will have to be compressed slightly to fit between the clamp-jaws. It may be made of metal, or metal with a lining of felt or other elastic substance (Z, as shown in Fig. 4:. However, I do notlimit myself to any particular form of this lining or to making it of any particular material.

The clamps C may be made from any elastic metal, though I prefer to use wrought-iron shaped by the process of drop-forging.

What I claim is 1. A self-locking elastic clamp having two opposing jaws held toward each other with an elastic force, and having also a locking proj ection adapted, when the clamp is in position, to prevent movement or displacement thereof, substantially as set forth.

2. The herein-described elastic clamp, having two opposing jaws held toward each other with an elastic force and at a distance apart slightly less than the parts which they engage, and having also a flange portion sit-uated in rear of the jaws and adapted to rest upon the face of one of the parts which the clamp unites, whereby the elastic force of the jaws is supplemented and the clamp guided into engagement with the parts which it unites, substantially in the manner set forth.

The herein-described spring or elastic clamp, having the longer upper jaw c, the shorter lower jaw c, the shank portion 0 and the rearward-projecti ng flange portion 0 rabbeted to"form the locking projection a, substantially as set forth.

4. In combination with the rail A, having the flanges a, and the tie B, perforated at Z) and having the lugs 1), against which the flanges a bear laterally, the clamp 0, adapted to lie in said perforation Z) and having jaws c and c, the shank portion 0 of the clamp between the jaws and opposite the flange abein g chambered out, as at 0, whereby any lateral or sidewise thrust of the rail will not be directly against the shanks of the clamps, but will be borne by the lugs 12, substantially as set forth.

5. In combination with the parts A and l and the clamp which'unites them,a lining D, interposed between the clamp and said parts, substantially as set forth.

(3. In combination with the parts A and B and the clamp which unites them, alining of elastic material, of a form substantially conforming to the interior of the clamp, interposed between said parts and the clamp, substantially as set forth.

'7. A metallic clamp having two opposing jaws adapted to engage with opposite faces of the parts which it unites, one of the jaws being cut away upon its inner face, whereby there is left a bearing-face, as at a, near the end of the jaw, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

RoBT. D. MURRAY, GEORGE W. PAGE. 

